FLORIDA – Donald Trump’s bond in his civil fraud trial has been lowered from $454 million to $175 million and he’s been given 10 days to pay it. His criminal hush money trial will start in New York on April 15.
Trump said he would post a bond, securities or cash to cover the $175 million sum and blamed President Biden for the court ruling.
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“A lot of things happened today. This is all about election interference. This is all Biden-run things,” Trump said.
This came after weeks of speculation that New York Attorney General Letitia James could seize Trump’s properties if he couldn’t pay, while he appeals the judgment.
Frank Luntz, a pollster, said on CNN that if Trump’s properties are seized, he would be almost guaranteed to be elected president.
“If they take his stuff, he will say this is proof that the federal government, the establishment and the swamp in Washington and all the politicians, the attorney generals, that this is a conspiracy,” Luntz said.
Shortly after Trump’s bond was lowered, a New York judge ruled that Trump’s criminal hush money trial will start on April 15. Voters in Jacksonville were split over Trump’s legal issues.
“He’s not above the law, anybody that’s duly fined by a court and judge, he must pay,” one voter said.
Another voter said, “I think he’s being unjustly tried. It’s like a witch hunt for him.”
News4JAX Political Analyst Rick Mullaney said the idea of Trump portraying himself as a martyr isn’t a guaranteed political victory for him.
“No, it’s not,” Mullaney said. “Remember that much of this plays to his base. And on the Biden base, it doesn’t play to them to all. The big question is on those moderate voters, those independent voters and Donald Trump is trying to make an argument to them that this is overreach.”
Mullaney said he suspects the Trump and Biden campaigns are conducting political polling on all these legal issues to see how it will influence voters in November.